Without Titans
by Project Aphex
Summary: Eren wakes up in his hospital bed with a confusing surprise. Was his whole life a lie? Story continues from Episode 23 of the series. This is my first fan fiction, and I hope you enjoy it! Contains Eren x Levi.


The blood is on my hands. Civilians, comrades, friends. They died for _me_, and what did I achieve? I brought nothing but death and pain to them. To everyone around them. Since the beginning I've been nothing but a disappointment. This world trusted me, and I have failed them. Eld. Gunther. Oluo. Petra. Marco. Countless civilians and comrades. All casualties due to me. Their blood is on my hands. My ambition and ignorance had them all killed. _Slaughtered_. And what did we achieve? What did we achieve from any of it? Putting a rock in a hole. I'm a failure. I can still see their cold corpses. They plague my mind. Every thought is occupied by them. The inside of my head feels like a courthouse. And the only evidence is for me to be _guilty_. Well, I am guilty, aren't I? The bloodstains of my fellow comrades keeps me awake. Keeps me alive. Still I can their blood-curdling crying. Screaming at me "_Sleep no more!_". Eren Jaegar hath murdered sleep and therefore Eren Jaeger shall sleep no more. Within the foggy depths of my mind, I can hear a voice calling me.

"Eren".

The voice sounds stern, but soft. It's a girl. The voice is a girl's.

"Eren!" the voice calls, louder than before.

I awake, fatigued and drenched in a cold sweat in a metal-framed bed, the sheets clean and white. _I'm so tired._ I can't even open my eyes properly. I can only see though narrow slits through my eyes, that's all my fatigue could allow. With all the might and determination I can muster, I heave my head up from the pillow, and rub my eyelids. The light seemed blinding, but as the whiteout of my vision fades, I can make out the rest of the room. I seem to be in a hospital. The room seems fairly new. The walls and tables are all white, and the only colourful things in the whole room were a stack of books on the counter, a bouquet of withered flowers, and a sleeping girl on the chair beside the bed.

"What? Hospital? Why... Why am I here?" I mumble. My throat is dry, and my voice is hoarse. It was like drinking salt water after somebody had just sandpapered my throat. And the mere task and pain of speaking left me almost breathless. The fogginess of vision drifted, and I can make out the girl on the chair. She had long, light blonde hair, tied back to reveal a pale face and a pronounced nose. Strangely, even her sleeping face is serious and stern. I guess sleep itself is even a bore to her. _Annie Leonhart_. My old classmate from the 104th Trainee Squad. The real confusion to me was, why her? I have no idea why I'm in this hospital bed, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't involve the Military Police. Nonetheless, I'm happy to see her. It's comforting to know someone who hasn't been scarred directly from me. Should I wake her? I guess not. Annie's not the type to sleep anywhere without needing to. Come to think of it, she must have a damn good reason to be asleep in my hospital room. Well, I guess she's the least of my worries at the moment. I have no idea why I'm here, or even where I am for that matter. I'd get up if I had the strength, but in all honesty, I don't think I have the strength to raise my arms. Walking is out of the question. Well, since I'm alive and Annie's here, I can't be in that much danger. It's probably worth regaining my strength with more sleep. Or at least sleepless rest.

The time between each tick of the clock on the wall felt like minutes, rather than seconds. Despite my fatigue, I couldn't sleep. That was probably for the best, knowing my current mental state. Every time I felt myself touching the void. The oblivion of my mind, just beyond a dark barrier. I can hear their moans and screams from the other side. But they're only saying one thing. Guilty. Every time I get close, I'm shaken awake by myself. Fearfully pulling myself back from my own mind.  
"Eren, are you awake?"

Startled, I shifted onto my side to see that Annie was awake. And to my deepest surprise, I saw her not looking cold and serious, but instead, looking worried.

"_Hark!_ Aroint thee, witch!" I shout without realising.

"W-What? More shakespeare? The doctor hasn't been pumping you with LSD, has he?" Annie stammered.

"Er... I have no idea why I just did that..." I mumbled.

"How long have you been awake?" She sighed. Her usual seriousness returning to her.

"Y-Yeah, I woke up a bit earlier, but you were asleep. I decided not to wake you." I croaked hoarsely. My sandpaper throat wasn't as bad as it was previously, but it was still painful to speak.

"You're voice sounds sore. No wonder. You were rambling for hours in your sleep. Sometimes jolting and making strange Shakespeare quotes." She grumbled. But I could see through the coldness of her stare that she was relieved. With our time together at the Training Camp, I learned these types of things. I never thought she was as cold as she made out to be.

"Anyway, where am I? Why am I here? And why are you here? I'd have thought you'd be busy with Military Police duty" I whispered, trying not to speak loudly enough to shred the rest of my vocal chords.

"You... Don't remember? You have _amnesia_?" Annie questioned.

"I guess so. The last thing I remember is fighting that female Titan." I murmured. Amnesia? This may be worse than I thought.

"Female Titan? What's that?" Annie puzzled.

"Myself and the Survey Corps went on a mission out of the walls, and we ended up fighting a massive, intelligent Titan. I think it could be another one like me, a Titan shifter. All I remember was watching my team... _My friends_..." I paused, mid-sentence. Talking about this was difficult. They died because of me. Because of my failings. They all did. "Watching them die before me. The rest was just, a blur of red fury." I croak. Speaking about this brought back the sadness, fear and anger. _It hurt_.

"What the hell are you talking about? Survey Corps? Titans? Titan shifters? And what's all this talk about me being in the Military Police? You're in here because you we're kicked down the stairs by those gang-member hooligans again. You should come to me, or at least Misaka before trying to fight those guys. The doctor said you'd be fine, but you've obviously hit your head a bit hard to be believing in fighting some '_Titans_' or whatever the hell they're called." She snapped.

What... What the fuck? Is she screwing with me? No... This is _Annie_ we're talking about. No. This can't be true. How can she not know about the Titans? How can she not know about the Survey Corps? This can't be happening. No. Was it all a dream? It couldn't be. I wouldn't get like this from a simple stair fall. I pull up my bed sheets and check my body for scarring. Nothing.

"How long have I been in here?" I frantically ask her

"You've been asleep for a week." She states, coldly.

The lack of scars is no surprise then. I would have healed by then, even if I had a severed arm.

"Are you serious? You've... You've never heard of a Titan?" I exclaim. The alarm of the current situation drowns out the pain of my vocal chords almost snapping.

Annie opens her mouth, but before she can start talking, there is a large thud from outside the door. A figure is standing in the doorway. Gaping through at me. Possibly scarier than any Titan I've ever seen. It was _Captain Levi_. And he looked... Absolutely _mortified_. What the fuck‽ This day is getting even scarier. The only time the Captain made a different facial expression was when he was cleaning. He can watch his friends and enemies being cut down into pieces without even a change of expression, but today. Here. Now... He looked Mortified.

Something is wrong.

Something is _very_ wrong.


End file.
